


I Thought It Could Wait

by StrongerTogether



Category: Saving Hope (TV)
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-16
Updated: 2018-12-16
Packaged: 2019-09-20 13:32:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17023521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StrongerTogether/pseuds/StrongerTogether
Summary: A slower burn to the Lintz reunion in 5x10.





	I Thought It Could Wait

_ “... they’ll come around, or they won’t, but I’m done trying to make it easy for them.” _

Maggie stared at the red-haired woman who had been the center of so many of her thoughts and daydreams in the past two and a half years, but staring at this Sydney was so different from staring at the once aloof, uptight and restless woman Maggie had first met. Even in the face of her parents’ continued coldness toward her despite all she had done to help Becca and the baby, Sydney showed none of the guilt or shame she had once worn like heavy shackles or a shroud hiding her true self from the world. Instead, Sydney stood peaceful and uninhibited, almost liberated, and most certainly  _ herself _ .

“You seem so, mmm…” Maggie searched for the right word to describe Sydney’s new overall demeanor. “… _ different _ ,” she settled on finally. She couldn’t help the smile that crossed her lips.

Sydney nodded before her lips split into a bright smile that sent Maggie’s heart skipping. “I am,” Sydney said with happiness and pride. She paused for a moment, thoughtfully. “Israel was… a lot of things,” she finished breathlessly.

Maggie could not help but stare in awe of her, trying to push down what she was sure would have been a stupidly huge smile herself. This was Sydney -  _ Sydney Katz  _ \- and she was so beautiful and so amazing and so  _ here _ . Maggie was helpless not to want to spend every second of time she could steal with this woman who, even after years of sparse and intermittent contact, still set her ablaze, made her head spin, and left her breathless and craving more. 

“Are you here for long? Do you… want to get together? … Have dinner or… ?” Maggie trailed off nervously.

What was she hoping for exactly? She knew better than to ask more from Sydney than what Sydney was willing to give her. Sydney lived an entire ocean and continent away. She even had a girlfriend back in Israel! What could Maggie possibly get out of an evening with Sydney other than another hit-and-run heartache?

“Or not,” Maggie said quickly. “I mean, your girlfriend is probably anxiously awaiting your return as it is.”

Sydney paused, that same thoughtful expression returning to her face for just a moment. “Actually, I’d love that,” she said softly with another aweing smile. 

Maggie stood stupefied.

“Just say when and where and I’ll be there,” Sydney continued, her ocher eyes flickered back and forth as if debating something, before she was staring smolderingly right into Maggie’s brown ones.“There’s so much I have to tell you.”

With that, Sydney gave her a sort of shy, secretive smile as she leaned in and kissed Maggie’s cheek before slipping through the door to Becca’s hospital room. 

Maggie stood at the door, feeling shocked and yet still somewhat protective over her former-mentor-turned-star-crossed-lover while she watched Sydney exchange words with both Becca and her parents. While the elder Katz sister’s behavior toward Sydney had shifted dramatically since her arrival at Hope Zion, Mr. and Mrs. Katz seemed as disdainful and aloof toward their first-born daughter as ever. Maggie sighed in frustration and disappointment; Sydney’s parents still had a long way to go, but, for the first time in her life, Maggie prayed that they would get there.

+

“Finally,” Becca sighed, settling back into the pillows on her hospital bed. “I honestly thought they would never leave.”

“You should have given me sort kind of signal. I would have paged Dr. Lin to come shoo everyone out hours ago,” Sydney said to her sister, gazing at her with concern. “Do you want me to leave too?”

“No. No, please stay? At least until Aaron comes back?” Becca asked of her. Sydney nodded. 

Rebecca Katz Friedman peered at her sister with a soft, inquisitive sort of look on her face. She beckoned Sydney closer with a soft, hopeful expression. It was her sister’s choice whether or not she wanted to close the distance, and Becca half expected Sydney not to. She was pleasantly surprised when Sydney moved to be just short of arm’s reach.

Becca tried to push herself to sit up straighter. “Actually, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”

Sydney’s hands reached out to still Becca’s efforts to lift herself. “Careful, Rivka. You don’t want to pull your stitches out. Someone did a really beautiful job on them.” Once she seemed reassured that Becca wasn’t going to compromise her own well-being, Sydney asked, “What did you want to talk to me about?”

“Dr. Lin.”

Sydney looked scared for just a fraction of a second, but quickly schooled her features into a neutral mask. “Maggi- Dr. Lin? What about her?”

Becca gave her sister a look. “Sydney. You’re my sister, and now that I know…” the second Katz sister trailed off. “The way that you look at her… She’s the reason, isn’t she? The reason you’re… ?”

“No!” Sydney denied with a bit too much force. “It’s…” 

Frustrated tears sprung to Sydney’s eyes. She didn’t want to have this conversation with anyone. Least of all her sick sister.

“No. It doesn’t work like that,” Sydney continued with an edge to her voice. “I was always gay, Rebecca. I’ve always been gay, whether I chose to be honest about it or not. I am who I am, and Maggie-  _ Dr. Lin _ \- isn’t to blame for that. She saved your life today, your baby’s life too. Don’t turn her away because of your beliefs about me, Becca, please, she can help you.”

Rebecca squeezed her hand. “You don’t have to convince me of that, Syd. That wasn’t why I brought it up.”

Sydney stalled abruptly. “Then why did you bring it up?”

Becca took a deep breath. “Because I’m trying to understand,” she told her. Becca knew she needed to choose her next words very carefully. “When you-”-  _ dropped a bomb on our family _ , those were the words she had used earlier that day, but that wasn’t truly how she felt _ - _ “When you told the family… that you… that you were… gay,” Becca began again, her words sounding difficult and forced to even to her own ears and perhaps they were, “I felt betrayed because you didn’t tell me. You were- you  _ are _ my sister; you’re my family, and all of a sudden, it was like I didn’t know who you are anymore.”

“I’m the same person I’ve always been, Becca. I’m still me. I’m still your sister.”

“I know. I see it now but before… it was like, for the first time in our lives, you weren’t the perfect, soft-spoken, obedient child constantly striving to do everything to make our parents proud of you,” Becca said. “You were defiant, but without regret and you looked happy.  _ Freed _ . I’ve always been the rebellious one, marrying a man not born an Orthodox Jew.”

“I remember,” Sydney said. “Dad and Mom were shocked until Aaron announced he was going to convert.” 

“They nearly lost their minds over it, but you spoke out for him. And for me. You defended us.”

“He made you happy,” Sydney said simply.

Becca regarded her sister softly as she asked, “Does Dr. Lin-  _ Maggie _ \- Does she make you happy?”

Sydney thought about it. The simple answer was obvious;  _ of course _ Maggie made her happy. Sydney couldn’t remember a time when Maggie  _ hadn’t _ made her happy, in her own way; hadn’t made her head spin and her heart pound and made Sydney question everything she had ever thought she had known. But this conversation was about more than just an infatuation - or even, as Sydney suspected, a deep love - for one woman. It was about who Sydney was truly on the inside.

“Being my true self and being honest about who I am makes me happy,” she replied, hoping to get through to her little sister. “Me being gay isn’t just about who I’m with, Rivka. It’s about a part of who I am and it’s not something I decided. It wasn’t a choice. It’s no more my choice to be gay than it was your choice to fall in love with Aaron. Can you… understand that?”

“I think… I’m beginning to.”

That was all Sydney could ask for in that moment.

She ended up sitting with her sister late, late into the night, long after Aaron returned and long after both Rebecca and Aaron had fallen asleep, listening to the muted sounds of Becca’s and the baby’s heart monitors and thanking God for answering more than one of her prayers that day.

 


End file.
